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tv   Anderson Cooper 360  CNN  September 28, 2010 2:00am-3:00am EDT

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grandpa's cooooooooool. way cool. ♪ grandpa spoils me rotten. ♪ to know, know, know you ♪ is to love... some people call us frick and frack. we do finger painting. this is how grandpa and i roll. ♪ and i do [ pins fall ] grandma's my best friend. my best friend ever. my best friend ever. ♪ [ laughing ] [ boy laughs ] ♪ to know, know, know you after this we're gonna get ice cream. can we go get some ice cream? yeah. ♪ and i do ♪ and i do ♪ and i do
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breaking news, president obama's right-hand man, chief of staff, rahm emanuel, is stepping down. sources say he's running for the mayor of chicago. we have two great democrats to talk about it. politicians distort the truth in hopes of winning your votes. you'll see how they play fast and loose with the facts. we're keeping them honest. and a democrat and republican. and remember eddy bernice johnson? remember her? she was supposed to steer money to help needy kids go to college. she steers the money into the pockets of her own relatives but then when she talks about it she refuses to take blame and won't say what happened. she's spoken about it again today and and her story tonight is pretty stunning. and tonight, a picture of mayhem in afghanistan with
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civilians killed for sports. body parts kept as souvenirs and troops in fear for their lives if anyone talked. all of that in the hour ahead. rahm emanuel leaving the without, we have paul begallo and alex costianos. he's advising the gop campaigns and paul advises the democratic campaigns. paul, what about it? rahm emanuel leaving? what do you make of it? >> i think it's highly likely. he's talking to his close friends and i'm one of them. the president, when -- i think he's pretty certain that he's running for mayor. the president will lose his right arm. the guy, without rahm, we'll have a rough time. i don't think we'll have wall street reform. those are tough new rules of the road on wall street. we wouldn't have had the stimulus package, now pretty unpopular with a lot of americans but it saved millions of jobs and probably kept us from going into a great depression. this president is an able guy and he'll find more to serve him.
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rahm has been the right arm of the president. >> alex, has he been a good chief of staff? >> i think so. he's known as a pragmatist, a level-headed guy. why wouldn't you want to be mayor of chicago as opposed to staying in washington. there's so much more political longevity in chicago. you can stay politically active there even after you die so it's a great retirement system. but it's going to be interesting to see who he is replaced with. if he's replaced with an idealog it will move them to the left. if he's replaced with someone of stature, in there but they need another rahm. >> paul, what is going on behind the scenes at the white house? is there an exodus? david axelrod is leaving to start to run campaign. we've had other high-profile people leaving. summers leaving. what's going on?
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is this the normal course of events? >> absolutely. >> or cleaning of house? >> the average tenure for a senior white house official is 18 months and we're past that 18-month mark already. it's always the case that at two years, people turn around and i think it's good. i think it's good for the white house. for any white house. i think the president has a terrific team but there's plenty of more people -- as soon as i said rahm is indispensable. but the graveyards are filled with indispensable men. all of us that served a president do so for a brief time and at his pleasure. let me bring in john king who broke the story. john, what do we know? >> reporter: we know there's announcements on friday, anderson and rahm emanuel has told close friends including paul begallo. and others inside the white house that he's all but certain to run. and you don't announce you're running for mayor of chicago in a press release.
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you resign and go home to chicago and then you make your announcement there. there are a few things they need to work out but they already have a shell of a campaign team in place and it looks like rahm emanuel will be gone as early as friday. they'll have a interim chief of staff and it looks like we'll have quite an interesting race for the mayor of chicago. >> any idea about who may become permanent chief of staff? >> there's been a lot of speculation about that. some people could be boosted up. a lot of encouragement coming. it's a good questions for the democrats outside the white house, maybe they need new blood. maybe tom daschle. this has been a relatively ancillary group so they expectation is they will pick from within but there's pressure to look outside. some say they wish they could make the decision after the mid term elections. where the president will have a bit more of a sober view. >> paul, you want to weigh in on who should be it? >> no. not who. john's reporting is good. it's spot-on as far as i can discern.
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i hate to admit that because i like to correct him. only of some of the names you hear wantered about. tom daschle, and tom donnelin and john padesto and leon panetta. he preceded john by a couple of chiefs of staff and now cia director. these are able people. we talk about washington all the time. the truth is, staff comes and staff goes. as a staffer, i prided myself in knowing the difference between the organ grinder and the monkey. these staff monkeys come and go. >> anderson, this is really an important moment for the president because he's had to deal with an unruly democratic congress. nothing worse than success in washington and he's had to placate a congress that is led by democrats that are really farther to the left than mainstream of the country. that may change in november. we'll wait and see. but, if indeed republicans
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capture the house the president has a chance to start over and start fresh with a new chief of staff that can work with both sides of the aisle. and that will be one of the tests, i think, that people look and see, who does he appoint? >> alex, stay with us. we'll come back to you. john king, appreciate the reporting. now our "keeping them honest" report. politicians distorting the truth and doing what it takes to get your vote. five weeks away from the mid-term elections and two new campaign ads distort the facts through clever editing. one ad belongs to a democrat and one to a republican. we're calling them out because anyone that wants your vote shouldn't insult your intelligence by trickier. trickery. this is by alan grayson running against daniel webster who he calls "taliban dan." >> religious fanatics try to take away our freedom in afghanistan and iran and right here in central florida. >> why submit yourself to your own husband. >> daniel webster wants to impose his radical fundamentalism on us.
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>> she should submit to me. that's in the bible. >> webster tried to deny battered women medical care and the right to divorce their abusers. >> submit to me. he wants to force raped women to bear the child. >> submit to me. >> of taliban dan webster, hands off our bodies and our laws. >> labeling your opponent, "the taliban" is deeply offensive and flat-out wrong. they murder american troops. stone people to death. is this what passes for political discourse today? if a republican did this to a democrat, liberals would be outraged. it's a low blow. what's false is about the way congressman grayson edited mr. webster's statements repeatedly saying, she should submit to me. submit to me. it sounds all very ominous. we asked for the context of those statements and they sent us this video, the statement he made about keeping a journal. and writing down verses from the bible. >> find a verse. i have a verse for my wife. i have verses for my wife. don't pick the ones that say "she should submit to me."
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that's in the bible. but pick the ones that you're supposed to do. so, instead, you love your wife. even as christ loved the church and gave himself for it. and submit yourself to your wife or husband. >> whatever you may think of mr. webster and his beliefs, the actual statement he's making is not the ominous command to women portrayed in greyson's commercial. the other clever editing job is on the republican side from the north carolina war veteran. >> pantano described by one superior as having for integrity and drive than any marine he's ever met. >> you served in gulf one. you got out and got a big great job a beautiful wife and kid and then 9/11 happen and you came home. your hair is shaved off and you're ready to head back into the war zone to help america. >> i'm ready to head to war a third time. except this time, it's for the soul of our country and i need
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your help to take the congress back. >> now, a few problems there. what stone phillips said wasn't all that he said. the end is cut off. the full line goes like this. he described by one superior as having more integrity dedication and drive than any marine he met but now he's charged with murder. he was indicted in murder of two iraqis and even though the charges were dropped for lack of evidence, stone phillips wasn't exactly praising him. nor was ann curry, her clip was clipped. she said you got a great job. you got a great big job at goldman sachs. apparently working at goldman sachs is something he'd rather voters not know for some reason. paul, what about the democrat, greyson's ad? his mantra has been to play hard ball but this is the second time in a week his attack ads got him in trouble. >> first off, you don't compare another american to the taliban. i screamed louder than anybody saxby chambliss from georgia, he
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ran an ad that compared cleland to saddam hussein and i don't see how this is better. you don't compare somebody to the taliban. that's nuts. the editing job was deeply dishonest. i think you can win on the issues. if the votes he cites are accurate, that's enough to run on. if he opposed divorce for abused women that's an important issue. you don't need to guild the lilly by misleading it with edits. >> and he submitted in a state senate, a proposal that got rejected and that's where they get that. alex, about what the pantano ad? he's served our country. why re-edit news clips? >> that's the wrong thing to do. he drew attention to the messenger and not the message. he has a good story to tell but now he brought his own integrity and credibility into question. he shouldn't have done it.
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he can tell his story. i don't know this candidate at all. from what i've heard, here's a guy that put his life on the line for his country. who made dozens of phone calls to parents of kids in his unit to let them know, they're not coming home. so -- before we condemn this fellow, we should walk in his shoes for a little bit. this was a political mistake. and more campaigns are lost like this by overreaching than are ever won by the people who do it. >> we're not -- i'm not condemning the guy has served and served honorably and stuff and the charges were dropped for lack of evidence against him. it's just in a commercial, to make it sound like stone phillips is saying one thing and he's actually saying something else, just seems kind of odd. >> very odd and especially when what you're trying to sell is your integrity. when you have a good story to tell, tell it, draw attention to it not to your credibility. in regards to alan grayson, anderson, he's an unusual guy.
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grayson is really, the howard stern of congress. one of the things we're seeing is democrats are running on local issues and they're running against, you know, the specifics of their opponents because they can't really run on national issues. they can't say president obama endorsed me. i voted for the health care plan and look what i've done for the economy. some democrats are doing it the right way. drawing differences whether it's local issues or things like that. some democrats do it the wrong way like alan grayson and it's easier to lose an election than win. this is a district that voted for obama. it may swing republican this year. >> will these misleading edit jobs, one a democrat and one a republican, will it hurt them? we'll tell you it will because our vast experience tells us that. but we're in a new-media age right now, anderson.
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too many americans if you ask me and too many voters use the media like a drunk uses a lamp post, more for support than illumination. they're not interested in the facts. they're more interested in confirming what they already believe. it may be that in this new media environment if you're a republican you can say anything you want and republicans like it. if you're a democrat -- i hope this works -- does not work. >> i think the american people are still pretty good on jurors and they're good as voters. more information, even when some of it is wrong they manage to sort it out. what grayson is doing is making a good case of why this election is important to alan grayson. he's not made a good case of why voting for him is important to the voters. >> same with -- if the editing wasn't so dishonest i would call foul on the line that says "i'm going to save the soul of america and congress." please! the soul of america is not in congress and doesn't need to be saved by congress.
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>> trial by jury, that's a new thing for republicans. >> paul, alex, appreciate it. let us know what you think. our live chat is up. are these ads completely dishonest and does it annoy you? the congresswoman who turned scholarship donations to money for her relatives. she speaks out again and her story keeps changing and keeps making us scratch our heads. we'll tell you why ahead. and how opponents of a mosque in tennessee try to stop it. they're in the courtroom today and we'll find out if their legal strategy will work. controversial claims in court about islam and terror. a lot more ahead. stay with us. to follow my passion for food. i saw a gap in the market for a fresh culinary brand and launched behindtheburner.com. we create and broadcast content and then distribute it across tv, the web, and via mobile. i even use the web to get paid. with acceptpay from american express open, we now invoice advertisers and receive payments digitally.
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i love my grandma. i love you grandma. grandma just makes me happy. ♪ to know, know, know you grandma is the bestest. the total package. grandpa's cooooooooool. way cool. ♪ grandpa spoils me rotten. ♪ to know, know, know you ♪ is to love... some people call us frick and frack. we do finger painting. this is how grandpa and i roll. ♪ and i do [ pins fall ] grandma's my best friend. my best friend ever. my best friend ever. ♪ [ laughing ] [ boy laughs ] ♪ to know, know, know you after this we're gonna get ice cream.
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can we go get some ice cream? yeah. ♪ and i do ♪ and i do ♪ and i do a scandal involving scholarships that were supposed to be awarded to needy kids from the congressional black caucus foundation. for many years these two congress people were awarding their own relatives and relatives of the staff with some of the money. we have a congressman from
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georgia that gave seven scholarships to his stepdaughter and wife's niece and also, gave scholarships to those with ties to his wife, who is tied to his wife, who is the municipal cart clerk in columbus, georgia. he said he did nothing wrong and he paid the money back though he refuses to talk about it, although we continue to invite him. congressman eddy bernice johnson, a democrat from texas, according to "the dallas morning news" gave away 23 scholarships to family and friends worth about $31,000. she's repaid the money but her story keeps changing. we invited her on but we're told she's not talking about it. we can sort of understand why. every time she talks she raises more questions. in the past she said she was sorry and didn't know the rules of the scholarships and took responsibility. but today when she spoke with "the dallas morning news" not only would she refuse to talk about it she denies breaking any rules. today she was asked if anybody on her staff ever concluded they
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were giving money to the congresswoman's relatives. listen to what she said. >> if, if it has been been a rule against it, it was discussed. if it had been any rule against it, it wouldn't have happened. i didn't do anything i was trying to hide. >> she just had surgery which is why she's wearing a neck brace. she said if there had been a rule against it -- she knows there was a rule against it when we spoke with her on this program a couple of weeks ago we showed her the 2008 scholarship application. this is it. employees orelives of members, spouses or foundation or the board of directors are ineligible for the program. even is if she didn't know her staff must have been known and her grandkids and others would have known because they signed the application saying they were not relatives. even if she didn't know about the rules back then she knew today because we told her weeks ago yet she told the paper
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today, "if" there were rules. it's a simple fact. there were clearly rules and she violated them. in an interview weeks ago with us, she claims she didn't spend a lot of time trying to give her relatives a few thousands dollars and said she was busy doing important work but since then this letter surfaced. this letter bearing her signature on her letterhead written to the scholarship people asking that the money be sent to her relatives not the school they were going to. ms. meek, she says, please accept the enclosed checks for press stop and gregory moore, her great nephews. the letter goes on to ask, if possible her their checks be made out to them instead of the university. thank you for your cooperation. listen how she explained this today. >> i did not sign the letter. apparently, it was done from my district office. i haven't even seen it close enough to even detect whose handwriting it was. i just knew it wasn't mine. >> she said someone else signed the letter. if that's true and we'll assume
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that's true that means she either asked someone to sign the letter under her name so the relatives could get the money directly or someone in her office took it upon themselves took it upon themselves to forge her name so her relatives could get the money. why someone on her staff would care enough to do that, award the relatives, i can't fathom. and she won't talk to us anymore, even though the invitation still stands. we have melanie sloan and todd gillman. he broke the story for "the dallas morning news." it seems like her story changes every time she talks. >> she has offered extremely contradictory versions of what she felt was going on. she says she takes full responsibility. but then she says she didn't violate any rules. it's not clear to me why she would have gone to the pain of cutting a $31,000 check to the foundation if she really maintains no rules were violated.
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>> melanie, clearly she broke the foundation rules. what about this strikes you from an ethic's stand point? >> the first thing that strikes me is sometimes you don't need a rule. it's clearly wrong to misappropriate scholarship money for your kids and grandchildren when it's intended tore needy kids. and secondly, she's clearly lying. saying she didn't know the rules, she didn't understand the rules. that's a lie. she's lying again when she said she didn't sign the letter. all these things are obviously untrue and she's refusing to take responsibility which is what so many people are sick of and the washington politicians. we want them to take responsibility for their actions and exhibit the values of honesty and integrity that are so important. >> amazingly, todd, she seems to blame you for doing this report and doing your job. i want to play something of whatever else she said to your paper. >> everybody in the office knew that gillman was always looking for something negative on me. everybody. this office and the washington
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office. all knew that. when a national organization i belong to wrote to cnn, they said that the "dallas morning news" asked them to do the story, through that national president. so, you know, it was -- it's clear. it was orchestrated. >> on the one hand she takes responsibility and on the other hand she's blaming you saying this is part of a conspiracy? >> i can attest that certainly, i and nobody that i'm aware of from "the dallas morning news" ever asked you or anyone from cnn to cover this story. >> i didn't even understand -- is that what she was saying? i didn't even understand the depth of what she was saying. >> she was alleging right there that we tried to engage cnn to get you to cover this story. she was blaming me. for fun i went to our library -- i've been with the "dallas morning news" 21 years and the first time i wrote about her was in 1992. for the life of me i have no
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idea what she's talking about where she thinks i had some vendetta against her. it doesn't make sense. it's a time-honored tradition for politicians to blame the messenger. either she takes responsibility or she's blaming the messenger so i'm not really clear how those two things jive. >> for the record, i never met you and i talked to you on t. we've talked a couple of times and i read your story and thought, that was an amazing story. there's no sort of collusion here. >> melanie, you talked to the congressional black caucus foundation. they said they were doing an internal investigation and now they say they don't want to talk about it.
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are they doing anything? basically, it's been revealed that two members of congress, who belong to the congressional black caucus were misusing the funds from this. we have no idea how much more there may be, but it doesn't seem like the congressional black caucus are the ones outs in front revealing this stuff. >> they don't seem to be out in front but i went over there and met with them. dr. scott after talking about this on your show a couple weeks ago and it is clear the foundation is very troubled by this. they feel they trusted the wrong people. they relied on congress people to follow the rules and i guess what they need is to trust but verify so they were deeply troubled and they are auditing the system and thinking of ways to revamp their scholarship program so it can be more appropriately monitored and make sure scholarships are given to the kids they intend to get them. >> todd, what are the biggest unanswered questions right now that you would like answers to? >> i would say the biggest unanswered question for the congresswoman is a question which my editorial board colleagues in dallas posed to her which is -- how did your grandsons and great nephews find out about the scholarship program if not by you discussing it with them? she's yet to answer and they have yet to give interviews as
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to how they came to find out about this. and the biggest question for the foundation, i think, is how much more widespread this was. who reviewed the documents? who should have reviewed the documents more closely, the applications and the processes, to make sure this didn't happen? >> it seems to me -- >> anderson, let's not let sanford bishop off the hook. he with too, has behaved outrageously. it seems like he, too, once wasn't announcing the scholarships allowing people to apply widely. both of these members are to be condemned for their actions. >> and should point out, are not talking about it. the media was all over christine o'donnell and we were, as well, for not coming forward and talking to the press. these folks are running for cover and saying they did nothing wrong. our invitation stands to both congressman bishop and congresswoman edie bernice johnson. a legal attempt to stop a mosque from expanding in tennessee.
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you'll hear from the man making the charges. the leading scholar of islam. five american soldiers accused of kill ing unarmed afghans told investigators. c s.
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t adwiwiout food al t
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inside a flight forced to make an emergency landing in new york over the weekend. more of the scary moments the passengers and crew faced. first, randi kaye has the "360 bulletin." anderson, harsh words from a commission investigating the government's response to the bp oil spill. the panel said the repeated low estimates of the huge spill undermined public confidence in the entire cleanup effort. one of the co-chairs compared the estimates to custer's disasterous decisions at little bighorn. another co-chair said he found it disturbing that government officials still don't have a plan on how oil flow will be analyzed in future spills. in colombia county, wisconsin, a state of emergency of a levee failed along the river. up to 100 homes could be hit by floodwaters near the city. the aging levee system is under pressure after last week's heavy rains. and a california police
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officer is on paid administrative leave after this video surfaced showing him allegedly faking the arrest of a teenage boy he believed was having sex with his 14-year-old daughter. the boy's parents made the video and we got it from the san jose mercury newspaper. on the tape the officer is heard lecturing the boy. just listen. >> growing up and being in high school, a cop's daughter is not someone you mess around with. you're stupid. >> and there you have it. "you're stupid" is what he said in that lecture. >> all right, we'll check in for another update ahead. still ahead, new developments in the battle to stop a mosque from being built. not the one at ground zero. this is in tennessee. it's already had arson and vandalism. and later a disturbing story, five american soldiers accused of murdering afghan civilians for sports. we obtained tapes and interrogations. you'll hear what they described they did to unarmed afghans that
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it's no surprise, with so many ways to save and discounts of up to 40%. so call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. tonight, new developments in a story we've been following in murfreesboro, tennessee, where plans to build a mosque are creating controversy. the islamic center of murfreesboro building the mosque which has been part of the community for the last 30 years or so. last month someone set fire to equipment parked on the construction site and that arson
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investigation continues and someone else targeted signs at the site. the opponent have filed a lawsuit to block the project alleging that county officials violated the laws making the project's approval void and argued the planning commission didn't properly vet the backers of the mosque who they contend have ties to terrorist sympathizers. they have a witness, frank gaffney, and he joins me along with the chair of islamic studies at american university and former ambassador. you testified in court that there were red flags from a security point of view regarding the mosque. what are the red flags? >> several were introduced into evidence during the court proceedings. that speak to this issue that you've touched on which is that the imam and others who are involved in the board of the mosque are proponents of sharia.
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the totalitarian program, political military legal program that's at odds with the constitution of the united states. has as its purpose, and that kind of activity is a red flag that ought to preclude it from being allowed to operate in murfreesboro or for that matter, any other community in the united states. >> the idea that this imam and people haved here for many, many years and practiced here for decades without any problems. and i mean, how are they trying to take over the united states from murfreesboro, tennessee? >> i don't think i suggested they are trying to take it over from murfreesboro, tennessee. i'm suggesting that it's a place like that. they are promoting a program that is at odds with our freedoms, our form of government. our constitution and to the extent as we've seen in europe,
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for example, this kind of agenda follows the trajectory that it has elsewhere around the world. it ultimately winds up becoming a cancer inside a society. a no-go zones are typically associated with it where the authorities dare not go. sharia law is practiced in the no-go zones and expanded in due course. and ultimately you have the groups like the muslim brotherhood with whom many of these mosques and for that matter, muslim-american organizations of any note, are associated, pursuing a mission that we know, from evidence introduced into another federal trial, is to destroy westernivization from within. that's what's really worrying. >> ambassador, what do you make of this? >> i think that there is an atmosphere and a cloud of distrust and fear happening over the muslim community. and i'm concerned about this.
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in fact, we have this particular mosque last year. i went with my team to colombia and tennessee, also, where the mosque had been firebombed. so it isn't an isolated case and that's why i applaud them for coming out with the committee. the committee that's exclusively to defend and protect mosques throughout the united states of america and i'm privileged to be a member of this committee. >> do you believe this mosque wants to institute sharia law in the united states? >> anderson, ask yourself this question. if every muslim in the united states, which is about 2% of the population, wanted sharia -- which is not the case -- even if they wanted it could they impose it over a population of 98% who are not muslim in a democracy? in my country where i come from, pakistan, 98% of the population is muslim. there is no sharia law. i've been a commissioner charge of large parts of the country. our laws are criminal and civil procedure codes derived from british law which has influenced
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the u.s. constitution. so the notion of sharia being implemented in america with 2% of the population, to me, is mathematically absurd. >> mr. gaffney, what about that? >> i don't think he answered your question. what is, of course, the case, today, the number of muslims in america and the number of muslims in america promoting sharia are very small, blessedly. this is the time to stop them from trying to this country in a direction we dare not have it go. did u.s. soldiers kill afghan soldiers for sports? drew griffin investigates. >> i want you to tell me this didn't happen. that this isn't true. can you? >> hear his answer, plus how the soldiers themselves explain what happens on interrogation tapes obtained by cnn. and panic in the sky when a plane makes an emergency
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we're going to show you some videotapes in a moment that are very disturbing for any american to see. not because after what they show because because of what you hear a handful of our soldiers speak about.
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today the hearings began for the soldiers facing murder charges accused of killing three afghan civilians and the interrogation tapes you see a painted picture of american infantry man who smoked hash at night and killed for sport during the day. drew griffin investigates for tonight's "special investigation. >> reporter: corporal jeremy more locke is accused of killing three afghan civilian men. two by shooting and the third, as described to a military investigator, was literally a set-up he says, by his platoon leader, staff sergeant calvin gibbs. >> we went to his compound. they walked him out and set him in place, and like, hey, stand here. >> he was fully cooperating? >> yeah. >> was he armed? >> no. >> where did he sit him? >> next to a wall. that's where gibbs could get like behind cover after the grenade went off and then -- off over here out of line of sight. and you know, he pulled out one of his grenades, american grenade, you know, pop the it and throws the grenade and then tells me and [bleep] all right, dude, watch this guy.
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>> he goes on to describe two more killings. unarmed afghan civilians, picked out, stood up, shot, and then blown up with a grenade. this is corporal's military attorney. >> i want you to tell me that members of the military didn't go out and three afghan civilians were killed for sport. >> you have the -- from what i understand, the case file. i mean, you know what the witnesses in that file say. and what they say in their videos. but that's what it sounds like. >> to defend his client, mike wattington will try to prove corporal morlock, already injured in two attacks was
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suffering from brain damage. and instead of treating him, wattington says the army drugged him. >> so your defense is that your client was mentally incapacitated and the army either knew it or should have known it. >> the army knew he had been blown up in two i.d. attacks and the army chose rather than to treat him but to take his weapon, give it back to him for whatever reason and then load him up on drugs. >> the drugs shown here, distributed in plastic baggies included ambien and amitriptyline and produce suicidal thoughts. the trouble began he says, in november of 2009 when the stryker brigade got a new squad leader. staff sergeant calvin gibbs. >> when he showed up at the unit he bragged to the young soldiers underneath him, including my client, about killing innocent people in iraq. >> reporter: staff sergeant
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gibbs is charged in all three killings. and witnesses stated that it was this new commander who orchestrated, coerced and threatened the stryker brigade to both kill afghan civilians and cover up their murders. and there is something else. the u.s. army accuses staff sergeant gibbs of collecting teeth, leg bones and fingers as souvenirs. >> did your client see those fingers? >> he says he did. >> according to the statement he did see that happen. >> corporal is charged in five counts of drug abuse, possession of pictures of dead bodies and of beating a soldier who was trying to warn the army what was going on. he says the boredom and the stress pushed this platoon to escape. >> how long did the drug use in this unit continue? >> the smoking of the hash? >> yeah. >> probably up until about a week and a half ago. >> from the beginning until now? >> yes. >> prominently? was it around consistently or what?
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>> bad days, stressful days, days that we just needed an escape. >> reporter: cnn placed several calls to attorneys representing the two soldiers. calls not returned. according to the soldier's taped interviews the drugs came from locals who laced hash with opium. >> this paints a picture of u.s. army soldiers smoking hash at night, killing afghans by day. how is it possible that if this is true, that nobody knew? in authority? nobody put a stop to it? >> that's impossible that nobody knew. i mean, on the ground, if you have a bunch of soldiers walk you around with brain injuries that are drugged up by prescription pain killers and narcotics, and smoking hash and opium on a daily basis, you would be able to know it instantly, if you have any common sense.
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>> one soldier did, apparently, try to warn superiors and that soldier is not charged. this corporal tells the investigators that on may 4th, the platoon, under the direction of staff sergeant gibbs went to the bear racking of the man they believed was a snitch, a narc, and beat him up. >> he was asked? pretty much everybody started striking. >> where was he sitting? >> on his cot. >> and they pulled him on to the floor. i didn't strike [bleep] twice. >> everybody take part in it? >> yes. sat down casually and told [bleep] that if he snitched again he would kill him and that he has killed people before and he has no problems killing again. and at the time staff sergeant gibbs had a cloth.
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he opened it and dropped it and three human body fingers fell on the ground. at that point i lost my head. >> anderson, i must tell you that we did reach out to the attorney for staff sergeant calvin gibbs who is being referred to on many of these tapes. those calls have not been returned to cnn. >> has the pentagon said anything about how this could possibly have happened? >> no we asked for an interview. no interview. the only statement we got was the pentagon questioning our release of the tapes saying it will interfere in the justice these men get. you heard about the photographs, the pentagon is very afraid that these photographs, anderson, will get out. as they've been described to me, they are almost like a hunting trophy photograph of u.s. army soldiers holding up dead afghan civilians. there's a great concern that this will turn into a abu ghraib type of incident if those photos get out. the military has asked all the attorneys in the case to return
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the photographs that were released so they can be in charge of the dissemination of those. >> i understand that concern. appreciate it, drew. a delta airlines pilot hailed as a hero tonight. for good reason. take a look. >> heads down. stay down! >> plane in distress making a successful emergency landing. all captured by one passenger's cell phone video. we'll show you ahead. my father brought me up to give back to society... felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials to help build the jackson family a new home. well, i know if my dad was still around, he would have told me, with no doubt... he would have told me it's a no brainer and i knew that from the start. it was an honor. booming is moving forward by giving back. i love my grandma. i love you grandma.
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randi kaye has the 360 bulletin. president obama signed a $42 billion bill today that he says will help small businesses create jobs. the new law provides billions in tax credits and creates a $30 billion fund for banks to make loans to small businesses. southwest airlines is buying airtran, its low-cost competitor. airtran will adopt southwest's name and its no-fee policy. in return, southwest gains a foothold in airtran's major death nations like atlanta, washington and new york. stay down! heads down! stay down! some very frightening moments aboard a delta airlines jet on saturday night after it was forced to make an emergency landing at new york's jfk airport all captured on the cell phone video. it originated in atlanta and was bound for white plains new york when it developed landing problems.